Knovel: Increase SEO links & promote authority with content

Where do engineers go online for answers they can trust? Knovel works with more than 100 authoritative societies and publishers to ensure users have access to the most trusted engineering resources available. Knovel’s customers are comprised of thousands of engineers at more than 750 organizations worldwide, including leading universities and 74 of the Fortune 500.

Knovel is available online via a subscription service, and its product is promoted through the brand’s marketing website why.knovel.com. The company partnered with Brafton to further increase brand awareness, adding accessible and timely news content to why.knovel.com. Amy Burnis, Knovel’s director of marketing and communications, says the updates from Brafton reach new audiences and give engineers a reason to stay connected with the brand.

Challenge:

Building Brand Awareness Within the Engineering Community

Burnis understood the company could publish shorter content relevant to engineers in its key target industries to expand its reach and build more interactions with existing users. Brafton provided SEO and content marketing expertise for Knovel. In Q2 2011, Knovel launched Brafton content to provide professionals with ongoing news highlights and insights on industry trends.

Goals:

Increase organic traffic to why.knovel.com

Drive repeat visits and loyalty

Brand awareness and new visitors

“I wanted to drive more interest and brand awareness. Our customers use Knovel heavily for projects in the product design and development stage, so the frequency of use within that stage will vary according to the needs of the team or individual user. I wanted to add a regular informational service that drove repeat engagement to reinforce the Knovel brand – whether users returned daily, weekly or monthly. I also want to reach prospective users who are not familiar with Knovel yet.” Burnis

Strategy:

Brafton worked with Knovel on an Editorial Brief to outline appropriate subject matter for the company’s audience. Burnis emphasized the importance of maintaining Knovel’s integrity as a trusted resource for its customers, so nailing the voice, message and subject matter for each piece on the marketing site was paramount to the strategy’s success. Brafton’s editorial team produces regular articles for why.knovel.com’s news and content section, populating the marketing site with timely and newsworthy posts every day. The content is aligned with Knovel’s target industries, and Brafton’s content marketing strategists offered guidance on content integration to facilitate UX and SEO.

Strategy:

Daily 400- and 600-word news posts

Daily updates to Twitter

Daily Facebook updates

Daily LinkedIn posts

Knovel’s regular content helped it get into the News section of Google search. The company now publishes a balanced mix of audience-centric subjects, with each piece tailored for one of its key markets. Burnis is confident the Brafton content meets the standards of her highly educated audience.

“So much of what you find on the web is poorly written and unreliable. We wanted a partner who could provide content that meets the standards we demand and provide value for our audiences.” Burnis

Knovel and Brafton worked together to build an online community for the engineering world centered on well-written content for niche audiences. The Brafton writers also turn daily articles into authoritative and clickable trend analysis or roundups, including annual features highlighting top engineering jobs for the next 12 months. More, Brafton social strategists distribute the brand’s content on leading social networks for added reach.

“Brafton writers use credible and reliable sources to craft well-written, researched content. This credibility is particularly important, not only because we target a well-educated audience but also because trusted content is central to our product offering. We have to maintain high standards for our marketing content too.” Burnis

Results:

More Site Visitors, Opportunities and Brand Exposure from Custom Content

Knovel saw consistent results from its Brafton content strategy throughout the first yearof service with organic traffic for its quarterly marketing site increasing 89 percent year over year. More than one-third of why.knovel.com’s overall organic search visitors (35 percent) engage Brafton news content.

Because the company wanted to increase the SEO value and brand exposure for why.knovel.com, it was important for Burnis to see ROI pertaining to traffic upticks, keyword progressions and rising PageRank. Fortunately, Brafton’s custom content helped Knovel achieve these objectives.

News content traffic rose 267 percent year-over-year in 2012 because of added exposure through Google News. Presence in less-cluttered search categories enabled Knovel to reach new prospects, and the daily updates also caught the attention of major news outlets that linked back to why.knovel.com’s content in their own reports.

In 2012, resources like the Library of Congress, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Science World Report, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Georgia Tech’s College of Engineering all referenced and linked Knovel content created by Brafton writers.

“Brafton regularly recommends new strategies to help us get the most out of our content. They provide us with SEO tips and ways we can refocus our content to better target convertible audiences with calls to action.” Burnis

Knovel drew in organic web users to its marketing site from more than 21,000 keywords last year. With many companies hyperfocused on their keyword strategies, Knovel found that having a wide array of content published every day drives organic traffic from countless phrases and terms. Through natural keyword progressions, Brafton content makes up 62 percent of Knovel’s Page 1 rankings, helping the company establish its authority via search.

The company drives brand awareness for its core product and educates site visitors with industry-specific news. Unique traffic growth was accompanied by 136 percent increase in returning visits, creating more touch points with Knovel audiences.

“The content we receive from Brafton is high quality, and it drives significant organic traffic back to the Knovel website. This also helps us earn links from credible sources, an indication that our content marketing strategy is working.” Burnis

What’s Next for Knovel?

Knovel has seen great results from its partnership with Brafton, and the company looks ahead to future content opportunities. After seeing traffic increases from its “Top Engineering Jobs of 2012” article, Knovel’s Brafton team will create similar news content around the trends that matter most to engineers. The company looks forward to continuously enhancing its content marketing strategy with Brafton.

“Brafton’s strategists are well informed about best practices. The recommendations they make aim to move beyond brand awareness successes to ensure we are better able to address and measure our lead-focusedobjectives too.” Burnis